The Sarah Jane Adventures: Port in a Storm
by Vladimir Klaud
Summary: Sarah Jane greets a visitor from Cardiff, who brings news of a possible Time Lord sighting.
1. Chapter 1

The Sarah Jane Adventures: 

"Port in A Storm" pt.1

by Vladimir Klaud

The interior of number 13 Bannerman Road was quiet. Enough so that it's sole human occupant was able to notice the settling noises that most homes make, which were seemingly absent when her youthful helpers were about.

"Mr. Smith" had folded himself away back inside the wall where he resided when he wasn't needed, hours ago. Luke was away at the University with K-9.

Peace was, of course, good. It meant that the planet was not in any alien-induced peril. Which should have provided ample satisfaction to someone like Sarah Jane, who by now had saved humanity many times over, and who was prepared to save it many times more. Problem was, experiences like the kind she had since meeting the Doctor, traveling with him for a time, and then returning to Earth to find more adventures here, had a way of changing her forever. Not to say that if she had to do it all over again that she would have chosen any differently. She treasured those memories dearly.

But it did leave her with a constant tension that she had to learn to live with.

Call it an added instinct, something akin to the wisdom that a wild hare learns only after personally narrowly escaping the death that may or may not be waiting behind the next hill or tree.

So, during tranquil times such as this, when nothing is actually waiting there, this heightened state of awareness gets no relief. And no matter how antsy it made her, Sarah Jane could never permit herself to relax and switch it off. Because for all she knew, that would be when the danger would choose to strike.

But there was no reason not to make herself a nice hot cup of tea, was there?

On her way down from the attic to do exactly that, she was detoured to the front door by a knock. She hadn't been expecting any visitors. Who might it be? Rani and Clyde were in school. Rani's mother, perhaps? Not likely, Gita should have been busy at her flower shop at this time of day.

Sarah Jane cautiously opened the door. There stood a dark-haired, wide-eyed young woman, thirty-ish ...and obviously pregnant. But what struck Sarah Jane most importantly about her visitor was the expression on her face. It was a deeply haunted look, a face that had too recently seen too much death.

"Sarah Jane Smith?" began the visitor. "I'm..."

"Gwen Cooper," Sarah Jane finished for her, nodding. "Torchwood. Please do come in."

Gwen matched her nod, and stepped inside, while Sarah Jane reclosed the door.. It didn't surprise Gwen that even though they had never actually met, Sarah Jane Smith would, of course, know as much about Gwen Cooper as Gwen Cooper would know about Sarah Jane Smith.

"I was about to fix myself a cup of tea. Would you like one as well?"

"Lovely." Gwen managed a half-hearted, gap-toothed smile.

"Make yourself at home, then. I'll be right with you."

When Sarah Jane returned with the tea set, she found Gwen seated silently on the sofa, seemingly mesmerized by something on the coffee table.

"Sugar? Milk?" began Sarah Jane, after setting the tray down and pouring a cup for Gwen, and another for herself.

"Plain is fine, thank you," Gwen took a sip.

Sarah Jane sat down. "I suppose it was inevitable that Torchwood would send someone here, sooner or later."

"I'm not here representing Torchwood," said Gwen. "Torchwood is finished in Britain. At least as far as I know. I remember the others mentioning branches in other parts of the world, but I've never had any direct dealings with any of them."

"How do you mean, finished? I was aware of what happened to the London and Glasgow branches, naturally. But I thought the one in Cardiff handled the crisis with the 456."

Gwen nodded. "That one finished us off. Only Jack and I survived...and he was forced to pay an exceptionally terrible price. I suppose I really can't blame him for running off, again. If there was nothing left on this planet for me, and it was an option, I might've asked some alien to beam me away to parts unknown, as well. The first time he did that, it was to your Doctor, you know. We felt abandoned, but at least we had each other. This time, I'm all that's left."

Sarah Jane's eyes darted to Gwen's condition. "Is Jack the, uh...?"

A grin broke Gwen' solemnity, temporarily. "No, he's not. I'm married. To a good man. A poor guy who's been dragged into my fights on more than one occasion. And he still loves me, in spite of it all. But now we come to the reason for my visit. I couldn't think of anyone else to turn to, who would be better suited to help me in the current Earth-threatening crisis."

It was Sarah's turn to grin, now. "I had a distinct feeling that another one had to be brewing."

"Are you familiar with the Cardiff Rift?"

"Of course. The Doctor used it to tow the Earth back into orbit. I met Jack on that occasion."

"Well, it didn't go away just because _he_ decided to do just that. That rift occupied the Cardiff branch of Torchwood for quite some time, even before my time. If it wasn't extraterrestrial life coming here, then it was poor unsuspecting human beings getting lost in it. There was always Hell to pay in either case."

Sarah Jane thought that sounded a bit familiar. "This wouldn't have anything to do with those rumoured dinosaur sightings, would it?"

Gwen shook her head. "Those are an independent phenomenon, which is already being handled by another highly specialized group. I might have gone to them about the latest problem with the rift, except it has nothing to do with prehistoric creatures. This is more up your alley."

Gwen took another sip and continued. "A human-looking man has emerged from the rift, calling himself the Doctor. Except I was able to see your Doctor with my own eyes at the time you met Jack. This man looks nothing like him."

A shocked look crossed Sarah Jane's face. "Ah. Well, it could still be him. He has a disquieting habit of changing every so often. Could you describe him to me?"

"Tall. Curly white-hair."

Sarah was quiet for a moment, then, "That was how he appeared when I first met him. Did you speak to him?"

"He seemed disorientated, at first. I thought the poor fellow might have first stumbled into the rift, then found his way back just as I was there to see him emerge. We've had some victims return aged or changed in other ways. But he did say some coherent things. He mentioned your name, for one."

"Where is he now?"

"With my husband."

Gwen did the driving (as it was her car) on their way to Cardiff. It would be a two and a half hour journey on the M4, so they continued their conversation during the ride.

"What makes you feel that this man, regardless of who he says he is, is some kind of global threat?" asked Sarah Jane.

"Better to overreact and look the fool, than ignore this and be sorry. If he isn't the Doctor, he does seem to know a lot about him. That alone means we cannot allow him to fall into the wrong hands. If he is the Doctor in some other incarnation, what happens to him could have serious repercussions to the world."

"And countless others," agreed Sarah Jane. "He is, after all, a time traveler. Any version of him could conceivably turn up in our time. If this is an earlier version of him, then should he die or become incapacitated, he won't be there in all those times where he was instrumental to history. If this is a later version of him than the one we know, we still owe him our lives many times over and must help him if we can."

"I understand how you feel," said Gwen. "But there is also another possibility. Between you and Torchwood, we've also done our share of saving the world. What better way to take both of us out with one stone than to send a decoy like this?"

"He could be part of an alien plot." Sarah Jane had to concede the possibility.

With Gwen being all that was left of Torchwood in the U.K, and Sarah Jane the head of her own small defense force both being eliminated at once, all that would leave behind would be UNIT. And while UNIT could be counted upon to take up arms against a threat in progress, they were useless in preventing the threat in the first place. Often, it was the ounce of prevention that saved humanity more effectively than all of the bullets in UNIT's entire arsenal.

"Well, if that is the case," sighed Sarah Jane, "I hope your husband has him well in hand."

"He has learned to be cautious in situations like these. Even so, how prepared can anyone be with any unknown quantity?"

They rode on in silence for a little while. Gwen felt the need to break it.

"Will your young friends be okay without you for a while?"

"I left a message for them. Nothing too explicit. They should be able to manage. If not, they can always reach me on the mobile."

"How about the other way round? Will you be okay without them?"

Sarah Jane smiled. "I'm actually more used to working alone. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate their help. And they have been extraordinarily helpful. More than I have had any right to expect. It fills me with pride how willing they are to risk their young lives in the dangerous work that I do. But..."

"...It breaks your heart every time your work puts them in harm's way," Gwen finished for her, knowingly.

"Exactly."

"Danger never stopped you or I from wanting to help in any way we can," continued Gwen. "Even though it must be equally as hard on the ones who care about us."

"Maybe that is precisely why I've avoided attachments for so long. I thought that it only complicates matters. But I was ignoring all of the benefits at the same time. Even the Doctor, given a choice, prefers companionship to going at it alone. This, despite having lived so long that he must have loved and lost so many who were dear to him. Another heart might have hardened long ago, but not his. Either of them. He has two, you know."

Gwen laughed. "Sounds about right for an alien."

"So I came to understand that no matter the potential hurt, I mustn't shut myself off. I only have one life, and that is all the more reason to make the most of it."

"There is a related consideration," said Gwen. "We won't live forever, so who will step into our shoes when we're gone? I admire the fact that you're grooming a new generation of invader-fighters. They are already more prepared for the battle than I was when I was pulled into it. Granted, I was a cop before I joined Torchwood. You would think that would be something of an adequate preparation. It wasn't."

"Even after recent events, it seems most Earth people still have trouble adjusting to the idea that we are not alone. And the Universe isn't composed soley of helpful, friendly E.T's. Gwen, given what you've been through, I wouldn't blame you for thinking it didn't have any in it at all. But I've seen them. I know they are out there. Some of those even visit us. We can't just assume that every alien visitor has sinister motivations."

"I hear you. I believe you, too. Heaven knows human beings aren't all saints or sinners, either. There's one thing I haven't told you about how I joined Torchwood. They didn't recruit me. I saw them at work. I infiltrated their base of operations. Jack was very open to me about everything, and I was to find out the reason why. He drugged me with something called 'Retcon,' which wipes your most recent memory, because I was a threat to their secrecy. And it would have worked if my memory hadn't been jogged in just the right way. Point is, I went back for more. I convinced Jack that he needed me. I thought it was going to be a great adventure. Well, there was no denying it was that. But now, after all of it, I'm about ready to throw in the towel. Call it burnout. Call it a need for an extended holiday. As soon as this is over, I'm looking forward to a nice quiet life with my husband and our child. Even knowing that the future is uncertain. So, you see, I have a secondary motivation for contacting you. I can brief you on everything I know, especially things that even you may not be aware of. But that you will _have_ to be, if you are going to be continuing the good fight."

Their talk went on for the duration of the trip. Gwen only stopped the car long enough in Cardiff in order for the two of them to visit a nice restaurant there for lunch. Afterwards, she made a quick cell call to someone just to say, "We'll be there in twenty minutes."

Twenty minutes later, Gwen Cooper and Sarah Jane Smith found themselves walking on a pier which reached into the Bristol Channel. At the far end of it, there was a blue passenger boat moored there which had the name _Chara_ painted in white on its side. As soon as they boarded, the boat cast off and made for a small island in the channel known as Flat Holm.

Once on the island, Gwen led Sarah Jane to the secret entrance of the facility below. Gwen gave her Torchwood I.D. into an intercom, and they were admitted inside by a black woman named Helen.

"I thought you said there was nothing left of Torchwood," Sarah Jane said to Gwen, almost accusingly.

"This isn't exactly a Torchwood facility," explained Gwen. "It's a sort of government-run hospice for people damaged by the rift. Although we can thank Jack for setting it up long ago. If he had his way, none of us would have ever known about it. This was another case of me putting my nose where it wasn't wanted. I immediately thought of this place when this latest rift traveller arrived. It couldn't be more ideal."

Helen led them to the room where the man in question was supposed to be. Inside, Sarah Jane saw two men. one lying covered up in a bed, another seated on a chair beside him. The seated man got up and kissed Gwen in greating.

"Sarah Jane, this is my husband, Rhys. Rhys, this is Sarah Jane Smith."

Rhys took hold of Sarah Jane's hand. "Thank you for coming."

"If it concerns the Doctor, you couldn't have kept me away," said Sarah Jane. "How is he?"

"A lot more calm than he was before, I can tell you. He's been given a sedative."

Sarah Jane turned to Helen. "May I take a look at him?"

"By all means," said Helen. "It is what you were brought here for."

Sarah Jane moved over to the bedside. She gently pulled the covers down from his face.

He certainly did have curly white hair. But this wasn't the face of the white-haired Doctor she had initially met. This was the face of his darker-haired successor, the fellow who preferred to wear those ridiculously long multicoloured scarves. Only this Doctor's face appeared to be much older than she remembered it to be.

"Is it him?" asked Gwen.

"This is the Doctor I travelled with," said Sarah Jane. "Or rather, what he might look like today, if he had never regenerated. But how can that be? The Doctor we all met recently told me he had changed six times from this version."

"Is it possible for him to change back?" offered Rhys.

"Not that I know of. But I don't claim to understand everything about Time Lords, or the rift he emerged from. It's equally possible for him to be a clone or an android, or an alien shapeshifter. But why this particular appearance?"

The subject of the discussion chose that moment to open his eyes and look directly at Sarah Jane. He rubbed his eyes with both hands and looked again with even wider eyes. He sat up.

"Sarah Jane Smith," he slowly said, a grin gradually building on his face. "Well, as unbecoming as it is for a gentleman to say this to a lady, you appear much older than that last time I saw you, as well. Quite a feat for someone I had to watch die before my eyes."

His grin disappeared, and he flopped back down on his pillow. "Therefore, it stands to reason that you are not the Sarah Jane that I knew. The question then becomes, who are you, really? A clone? Android? Alien shapeshifter?"

Sarah Jane gave him a wry look. "You've been awake the whole time?"

"Not the whole time. Especially at my age, a little sleep is never amiss. But as I've been drugged by potions far more potent than the one Helen administered to me, I expect I have developed a certain tolerance to the effects. Not to worry. I may have been in an agitated state when I arrived, but I can assure you that I don't mean you or anyone else any harm."

"What did you mean when you said you watched me die?"

"Exactly that. The Sarah Jane I knew died a long time ago, during circumstances I was powerless to change." He looked directly at her again. "She never made it to your age. Given our conflicting accounts of one another, I would say the conclusion is inescapable. Parallel timelines have crossed."

Gwen and Sarah Jane looked at one another.

"It would explain a lot," offered Gwen.

"But if that is the case," said Sarah Jane, "then you don't belong here. We must return you to where you came from as soon as we can."

TO BE CONTNUED


	2. Chapter 2

The Sarah Jane Adventures: 

"Port in A Storm" pt.2

by Vladimir Klaud

"Agreed," said the Doctor. "However, being too hasty in doing that may not be the wisest choice for your world, just now."

Gwen folded her arms, looking at him suspiciously. "What would you mean by that?"

"Just that when I ended up here, I was in pursuit of a very wily creature called a _kazipoto_. Which means that there's an excellent chance that it has arrived here well ahead of me, giving it ample time to create all sorts of unpleasant mischief. Much as the world I come from would only be too happy to be rid of it, I should think your world would hold a very different view about being its recipient."

Gwen looked at Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane shook her head.

"I don't think I've ever encountered one," said Sarah Jane. "I don't believe I've ever even heard of this species, before."

"Their native planet is called Ermadolee. Lots of similarities to Earth, oceans, continents, dominant lifeform living on the land. The _kazipotos _hold the same niche in their ecosystem as Earth squirrels. You do have squirrels on this planet, correct?"

"Of course we do!" interjected Rhys, almost annoyed. "What kind of a question is that?"

"A sensible one, given that with parallel worlds, all bets are off!" answered the Doctor, just as loudly.

"Any assumptions you make, you make at your own risk. The squirrels on the Earth I know live on nuts, and bury what they don't eat for later consumption. It that how they behave here?"

"Yes, Doctor," said Sarah Jane, hoping to hurry along his explanation. "And the ones that they don't dig back up become new trees. Is that what you're getting at?"

The Doctor nodded. "The _kazipotos_ are, however, much more intelligent. They have mastered tree farming to an art, and have the ability to create and use verbal language. The politicians on Ermadolee are locked in an ongoing debate over whether they should remain classified as mere animals or have their status changed to a new form of people. So, now do you understand what we are dealing with?"

"An alien squirrel with a high I.Q," said Rhys with a straight face.

"Oh, it's much worse than that," said the Doctor, gravely. "Most animals on most worlds are creatures of instinct with simple minds. They aren't bothered by anything more complicated than hunting for food, or a mate, or protecting their young. This is what makes them predictable. Domesticatable. Trainable to perform simple tricks. But a _kazipoto_, if you know its language, will tell you that it is something more than a dumb animal. It can deal in abstract ideas, such as striking a bargain, or planning an elaborate trap. It can take offense at a perceived insult, and it is capable of desiring revenge - and acting on that desire. In the case of the one that I happen to be after, it has been convinced to undertake a certain assignment, and it means to carry that assignment out - at the cost of its own life, if need be - because it believes that what it is doing serves a greater purpose. But the truth is, unless it is stopped, it could unleash something incredibly evil."

.

The creature in question, was, at the moment, scampering alongside a road in Cardiff. It had the appearance of a rather large rodent with a bushy tail. Apart from its unusual size, the other obvious sign of its unearthly origin was the fact that it had four appendages on either side of its body to run with, and a second pair of eyes in the back of its head. All the better to see whatever was sneaking up on it from behind.

On the approach of any vehicle, it would veer off into the roadside gully to hide and wait for the vehicle to pass. When the coast was clear, it resumed its desperate run.

Around its neck hung something that looked like a handbag.

.

"Fortunately, I have a device that can track what its carrying, so zeroing in on it should pose no problem," continued the Doctor. "So it would be helping if one of you would return my clothing and personal effects."

Sarah Jane, Gwen, Rhys, and Helen exchanged wary looks.

"Well, it certainly sounds like an urgent matter," said Gwen. "Miss Smith, it seems you are the most qualified to make this decision. Do we trust him, and send him on his way?"

Sarah Jane looked at the Doctor's face and considered her answer very carefully.

"No. We trust him, and go _along_ with him. If he's telling the truth, he may need our help. If it's some sort of ruse, we still need to be there. Either way, we're all going on this _kazipoto _hunt."

The Doctor grinned.

.

But for the white hair, the fully dressed Doctor was the image of the one who dropped off Sarah Jane in Aberdeen (instead of Croydon) before continuing his journeys without her, complete with his trademark scarf and wide-brimmed hat. But this Doctor, if his story was to be believed, had led a different life in a different universe. Sarah Jane felt compelled to trust him because he reminded her so much of the Doctor as he was back in the seventies. But she had to admit, what he had told Rhys about all bets being off when it came to parallel universes, struck a chord with her. What if her trust in him was horribly misplaced? Suppose that in his world, he was as dangerous as the Master?

These were the troubling thoughts which crossed Sarah Jane's mind as she, the Doctor, Gwen, and Rhys returned to the mainland and re-entered Gwen's car for the trip to the location near the Rift, where Gwen had found this Doctor. He claimed it was the best place to begin tracking the fugitive _kazipoto._

"While we have a moment before we get there," said Rhys during the ride. "How about giving us some details about what to expect? Does it shoot laser beams from its eyes, or what?"

"Well," began the Doctor, "they can deliver a rather nasty bite, and they do possess eight sets of sharp claws, but they usually hold off on using any of that until they feel cornered. Like any creature that can think, it prefers to strategize its attacks and defenses. It is aware of my reputation and the of the fact that I am on its trail. So it is safe to assume that any traps it lays will be tailor-made to eliminate me as its main threat."

"We're coming up on the Rift at the next turn," announced Gwen.

The Doctor already has his tracking device in his hands, and he was studying it closely. "Once you make that turn, you'll want to stay on that road and not make any further turns until I tell you. It has quite a head start on me, but it appears to be following the road. Odd."

"Why is that odd?" asked Gwen.

"Imagine you are a _kazipoto _on the run. You know I am right behind you. It is imperative for you to shake me off of your trail. You have your choice of several routes that would be child's play for you to negotiate, but would definitely slow down your two-legged pursuer. Why would you make it so simple for me to follow you?"

"If this creature is as smart as you say it is," said Sarah Jane, "then the most obvious answer would be that it is leading you on."

"Yes," agreed the Doctor, allowing the idea that this tactic was a lead in to some sort of trap to sink in to the others.

After taking the turn, Gwen pulled over and brought the car to halt.

"Why are we stopping here?" asked the Doctor.

"Perhaps now would be a good time to weigh in on what might lie ahead," explained Gwen. "I don't like the idea of driving blindly into who-knows-what."

"It's very unlikely to have had the time or the intention to rig anything elaborate across the road," said the Doctor. "It has no reason to suspect that I'm following it by motor car."

"So you think we won't run over any landmines, or anything that might cause the tires to blow out?"

"Reasonably certain. I may have a better insight into how it thinks, but I'm no more of a mind reader than you are. If we proceed slowly and keep our eyes sharp, I'm confident we can close the distance between ourselves and where it is without incident."

Gwen and the others didn't appear to be convinced.

"We may have fallen into one of its traps, already, you know."

"How do you mean?" asked Rhys.

"Reverse psychology. By making the pursuit too easy, the pursuer smells a rat and hesitates, the way we have now. An ingenious way for it to buy itself some time."

Gwen sighed. She drove the car back onto the road.

"Eyes sharp, everyone," she said.

Now underway again, Sarah Jane decided to ask the question that no one else had voiced, yet.

"Doctor, what, exactly, is this threat that the creature poses? I mean aside from injuring anyone who tries to corner it. You mentioned it can unleash some sort of evil."

"That is a bit of a long story, I'm afraid. For now, I will tell you this. It is carrying with it a small container which holds the evil harmlessly inside. Simply opening this container would not be enough to unleash it. There is an involved process, which, sadly, the _kazipoto _understands. Given enough time, it could find everything it needs to restore this evil to full power. In a new world, that would be caught completely unawares, no less."

.

The _kazipoto_'s nose sniffed the air, its nostrils flaring, and all of its eyes widening upon catching a whiff of what it needed to complete its mission. It had stumbled across a bustling warehouse complex!

Keeping low to the ground, and only moving when it was certain that no one was looking, it skittered across the grass to hide among some parked cars. When it was safe to do so, it darted inside through one of the open bay doors, and immediately scampered up one of the inside walls with all of the effortless agility of a spider, where it found plenty of dark crevices to blend into and carefully consider its next move.

.

"You said that the _kazipoto_ is intelligent," Sarah Jane reminded him. "Is it possible to reason with it? Convince it not to do this?"

"Possible, yes," said the Doctor. "If one of us knew a language that it understood. Even if I could communicate with it, it's doubtful that it would trust anything I have to say. In its eyes, I am the enemy who would say anything to prevent what it has been convinced that it must do."

Rhys asked, "What do you intend to do when you find it, then. Kill it?"

"If it cannot be avoided, and there is no other answer," said the Doctor. "I don't see it coming to that, as I have been given a stun device tuned to its particular metabolism. If I can get a clear shot at it, that should keep it unconscious long enough for me to carry it back to my own universe...and you can all go back to your normal lives. ...Aha!"

"What? What is it?" exclaimed Gwen.

"My tracking device shows that it has gone off the road and has stopped moving. Keep driving. I'll tell you when to pull over."

In short time, the car was pulled over. All four of them stepped out to behold the warehouse complex. And it was apparent that workers were filing out of it in a hurry.

"No doubt that my target has been spotted by someone, and everyone has been told to temporarily evacuate," noted the Doctor. "This is not good. Not good at all. If I'm right, everything necessary to unleash the evil can be found within a stone's throw in there. We'll have to move fast."

"Right," said Gwen. "You've all been inducted. Let me do the talking, and I'll get us all inside."

She led her group up to the man who seemed to be the boss.

"Hello," she said to him, pleasantly. "Am I correct in assuming that you are in charge here?"

"That's right," answered the man. "And who might you be?"

Gwen showed him her I.D. "Gwen Cooper, Torchwood. This is my team. Am I further correct in assuming that you have a large animal running around inside the premises?"

The man nodded. "How would you know about that? I haven't even called the animal control people, yet."

"We would prefer it if you didn't. We are here, in fact, to collect it. Has anyone gotten a good look at it, and can tell us where it was last seen?"

"Well," said the man, "no one's really gotten a good look at it. It's furry and it's fast. It's been leaping around from rack to rack like lightning, staying just out of sight, and ripping things open. Do you know who is responsible for that thing getting in my warehouse?"

"Those details are still being sorted out. I can tell you that this is a very rare creature. Endangered species, actually. If it was injured in way, there would be international repercussions. It's a South American..."

"Lemur!" blurted out Sarah Jane.

"Yes, that was it," nodded Gwen. "South American lemur, on loan here as part of a traveling exhibit. I'm sure the people who lost it will be happy to reimburse you for the damage it has caused. But right now, we need to tranquilize it before it can do any more harm, all right?"

The group proceeded past him.

"Wait," said the man, "don't you need equipment? Nets and rifles and such?"

The Doctor spoke up. "We may look empty handed, but we've brought everything we need to get the job done. Just tell everyone to stay outside until we return and give the all-clear."

With that, the four of them entered the warehouse.

The Doctor placed a finger across his lips to indicate silence to the others, as he withdrew his stunner from his pocket. Cautiously, the little group made its way deeper inside the warehouse. Gwen and Rhys had brought guns with them, and had them drawn.

Moments later, a sudden crackling noise, like the sound of a massive electrical discharge, startled them.

Facing the direction from which the noise emanated, they saw bright lights flashing, illuminating the back of the warehouse.

"What was _that_?" whispered Sarah Jane, insistently.

"The unleashing of that evil that I was telling you about," said the Doctor. "I fear that we are just too late. Come on!"

Dashing toward the source of the sound and the light, the group soon came to a gasping halt at the sight which greeted them.

There, before them, stood a man with dark hair, and a neatly trimmed mustache and beard.

The Doctor aimed his stunner at the man. "So. The Master is reborn."

TO BE CONTINUED


	3. Chapter 3

_I received word of the death of Elisabeth Sladen while I was in the middle of writing this chapter. The news stunned me so much that I needed to stop writing for a while. She was just too young to go. I am grateful that Russell T. Davies is such an uncommonly talented TV producer that he was able to bring _Doctor Who _back in style, and that he is enough of a fan that he saw the wisdom of bringing Sarah Jane back into the fold, as well. A whole new generation got to see what the fuss was about. She, and we, deserved to have so many more adventures together._

The Sarah Jane Adventures: 

"Port in A Storm" pt.3

by Vladimir Klaud

The Doctor depressed the trigger. A beam of crackling energy shot out.

Which was intercepted by the _kazipoto _leaping seemingly out of nowhere to place its own body in the line of fire. When it was hit, a blindingly bright aura enveloped its body. It screamed. The creature was already unconscious as it slammed into the floor and slid to a halt.

But the diversion was enough. By the time everyone blinked away their temporary flash blindness, the Master had seized the opportunity to make himself scarce.

"Fan out!" ordered the Doctor. "He mustn't be allowed to escape! You two, with the firearms, don't be afraid to shoot to kill if you spot him."

Gwen and Rhys looked at one another, too astonished to speak.

But Sarah Jane spoke up. "Our Doctor doesn't believe in the taking of another life!"

"We have already established the fact that I am not _your_ Doctor, Miss Smith. Even so, I'm sure that _your _Doctor wouldn't argue with me. I don't know if the Master has a counterpart in this world, or indeed, if anyone in it even approaches being the magnitude of threat that this single individual poses. But I know him very well. It was hesitation that gave him the time he needed to be reborn here. And it is hesitation now that is helping him to get away. If you've trusted me this far, you must trust me a little more on this. The Master is a very dangerous man."

Sarah Jane looked to Gwen and Rhys, then back to the Doctor.

"Oh, this world is familiar with the Master, all right," she told him. "While the prospect of _two_ of them is an unpleasant thing to contemplate, we only have your word about what this man is like. And we still do not know enough about you to trust in you completely, either."

The Doctor smiled, then faced Gwen and Rhys. "Is that the way you both feel, as well?"

Gwen said, "I defer to Miss Smith's judgment on this matter. She is the Doctor expert, here. The cop in me says you do not take sides in any dispute until you have a clear enough picture of what is going on. That man that you advised us to kill hasn't even had any opportunity to commit an offense worthy of arrest!"

Rhys said, "I defer to my wife. She is a good cop."

The Doctor only paused for a slight moment. "I see. Then this is where we must part company. I thank all of you for the assistance that you have already given me, but I must continue on my mission."

"Not so fast," contradicted Gwen, as the Doctor began to move off. "No one said you were free to go where you please. You are still an alien here, and an unknown quantity, yourself. I, personally, witnessed you emerge from the Rift, and that places you under my jurisdiction. You told us that your mission was to retrieve a dangerous animal. Well, there it is on the floor. I don't know how long it's going to remain unconscious, but if it is as much of a threat as you claimed, hadn't you better pick it up and take it back to wherever it is you came from, while you still can?"

"I suppose I could give it a try," said the Doctor. "Although, to be honest, I'm not really 100% certain that this rift, as you call it, works both ways. We know that it brought me here, as well as my adversaries, but how do I know that when I step through it again that I will be back in my own world? I may end up in yet another parallel world. So, before I go making any leaps prior to looking, I will need time to study it. Time which I, and, frankly, all of _you _as well, do not have. My advice to you would be that one of you should take the _kazipoto_ and place it in confinement, preferably somewhere it can't squeeze through the bars or chew its way to freedom. I'll even give you my stunner. It probably wouldn't have worked on the Master, anyway, since it is specifically tuned to knock out _kazipotos."_

The Doctor pointedly placed the stunner in Gwen's hand.

"Much as I have enjoyed your hospitality, I'm afraid I must insist on going after the Master, even if I must do so alone. As bad as having a _kazipoto_ on the loose is, having the Master on the loose is exponentially worse. _He_ is now my responsibility."

Gwen looked as if she was about to aim her gun at the Doctor. Before she might have done that, Sarah Jane broke in.

"I'll go with the Doctor," she said.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" asked Gwen.

"Not really. But it seems the most sensible option for now."

The Doctor grinned at her.

"Right," said Rhys. "Now that _that's_ sorted, I suppose it's up to me to pick that thing up and sling it on my shoulder."

"It's completely out cold and harmless," reassured the Doctor. "And it'll remain that way for hours. But I still wouldn't waste too much time in getting it wherever you plan on keeping it. It will, doubtless, feel cornered when it wakes up."

.

"Well, she looked pregnant to me," the warehouse boss said into his mobile as he stood among the evacuated employees outside of the building. "Who allows a pregnant woman on a team to catch a wild animal, I don't care if -?"

He cut himself short as he watched the team in question emerge, one of them carrying a large furry lump draped over his shoulder.

"I'll call you back," he said, hanging up and putting his phone away.

"What did I tell you? No problem at all," smiled the Doctor, indicating the unconscious creature wrapped around Rhys' neck like a large mink stole. "It's safe for you to all go back inside, now. ...Erm, by any chance, did you or anyone else happen to spot a rather serious-looking man with a beard and dressed in dark clothing?"

"Yes," said the boss. "Tore out of there as if a pack of wild dogs were after him. Is he with you?"

"Not at all. We were wondering if he was one of yours," said the Doctor.

"I've never seen him before in my life."

"Hmm, very suspicious," said the Doctor. "Did you happen to note which way he went? He may have had something to do with this animal's initial escape."

.

While the Doctor and Sarah Jane proceeded on foot in the direction that the warehouse boss had indicated; Gwen and Rhys took the _kazipoto_ to their car, got in, then turned it around to head back the way they came.

The Doctor and Sarah Jane walked for quite a while, but no evidence that the Master had passed this way had made itself obvious to them.

"Doctor?" said Sarah Jane, as things between them had gotten a little too quiet for her comfort. "That handbag around the creature's neck. Is that the container which held the Master inside?"

"It was," said the Doctor, not seeming to pay too much attention to Sarah Jane, as he was paying to the idea of where his quarry might be hiding.

"How is it possible that something that small could hold a full grown man?"

"It is a bit of an involved explanation, but I suppose I could cut to the gist. You are aware that matter can be broken down and teleported from one place to another?"

"Yes."

"The data that constitutes that matter can be digitized and stored. In its pure form, it would require more memory than even the most powerful supercomputer has, much less the container you saw. So the data is compacted into a much smaller program that only keeps track of where all the ones and zeroes go."

"Like the zip files on a PC?" offered Sarah Jane.

"Exactly," smiled the Doctor. "The Master was tried and convicted for his crimes by the Time Lords. But in deference to his brilliant mind, rather than destroy him, he was reduced to a zip file and put away for safe keeping where it was thought that only authorized personnel would have access. The _kazipoto_ managed to circumvent all the security in place and make off with the container. Which brings us to where we are now."

"Doctor, what about your tracking device? Could you still use that to find him?"

"Well, it was set to pick up certain emanations that are an unavoidable side effect of the process." The Doctor's eyes suddenly widened with a gasp. "A reconstituted body has temporary emanations of its own, but I think, with a little tinkering, I should be able to reset it to sniff out those! Miss Smith, you are brilliant! But I must work fast, before those emanations settle down."

.

Gwen and Rhys wasted no time in getting the _kazipoto _back to the Flat Holm facility, where it was deposited inside an empty room with an outside observation compartment. Helen joined them in the compartment to see the snoozing beast through the two-way mirror as it lay almost motionless in the middle of the bare room, but for its inhales and exhales.

"Any idea how long it'll be out?" she asked them.

Gwen shook her head. "I'm afraid the Doctor didn't volunteer any specifics."

"What do you reckon it'll do when it wakes up?" asked Rhys.

"If it is as intelligent as he warned us it was," said Gwen, "I imagine it'll start by taking a good look at its surroundings, and then try to figure a way out."

"Suppose it tries to break this window?" posed Rhys.

"It was designed with violent patients in mind," answered Helen. "It has withstood a full grown man pounding it with a heavy hammer, without even leaving any marks on it. But, just in case, the exit is...that way."

Helen pointed wry at the wide open door.

Gwen showed her the stunner. "He did give us this. Not sure how many shots it has left, but it only took one to bring it down. Worst case, Rhys and I are both armed."

.

The Doctor reclosed the tracking device's housing. "There. That should do it."

Holding it before himself in his left hand, while his right twiddled a small knob on it, he kept his eyes focused on the readout, while slowly turning his body in place. In a moment, it emitted a whine, when the indicator jumped.

"You've got him!" exclaimed Sarah Jane.

"Got _something, _anyway," amended the Doctor. "Let's go see what it is, shall we?"

The device led them into wooded territory. Sarah Jane pointed out a sign nailed to one tree, informing them both that trespassers were unwanted here.

"Can't be helped, I'm afraid," said the Doctor, proceeding in without pause.

"We're also losing daylight," she pointed out.

"Can't be helped, either. Coming?"

.

The _kazipoto _stirred. All of its eyes shot open, and it immediately got back on it feet.

It sniffed the air, then made a sound that could have been one of impatience, or frustration. Heading to one corner, it pawed the walls with several of its appendages. It tensed, then sprang up, hitting the ceiling with its front-most pair of paws before dropping back to the floor.

"Look at that!" cried Rhys. "It made a dent! First try! I guess Jack never figured on a patient who could do that, eh?"

"What is above that room?" Gwen quickly asked.

"I have absolutely no idea," said Helen, worriedly. "But there aren't any other floors above this one."

The _kazipoto _punched the same spot again, only harder. Bits of ceiling fell to the floor.

"Maybe there doesn't need to be for what our friend wants," surmised Gwen. "Rats have been able to squeeze themselves through spaces no larger than this."

She made an "OK" sign with her free hand.

"Given enough crawlspace, it may be able to burrow someplace where we'll never be able to get to it," she continued. "For all we know, it may be able to navigate like a mole. It could end up in another patient's room, or dig its way clear up to the surface."

The _kazipoto's _next leap widened the hole in the ceiling even more.

"Then we had better stun it again, while we still have it in sight, hadn't we?" advised Rhys.

"I'm not sure about the nature of the beam it projects," said Gwen. "What if the mirrored side of this window diluted its strength, or worse, reflected it back on us? The only way to be sure is to go in there while it's concentrating on what it's doing."

"That thing's got eyes all around its head!" said Rhys. "There _is _no taking it by surprise!"

"Have you got a better idea?"

Rhys paused only for a second, while the creature tore another chunk out of the ceiling.

"Right," he decided. "Give it to me."

Gwen's eyes widened. "Rhys, you know damn well I'm a better shot than you."

"At this close range, that doesn't matter," he said. "I'm looking at worst case. If I shoot and miss, it's just me. You shoot and miss, it's you...and our child. Please, Gwen. Give me the stunner."

Gwen didn't like this. But, damn it, he was right. She might have stood a chance arguing with him if she wasn't pregnant. It was one thing to risk herself in a dangerous situation, but placing the baby in harm's way as well was another matter.

Impulsively, she threw her arms around him, trying very hard not to think that this could possibly be the last embrace that they might share.

They heard the creature pound the ceiling again, along with some more crumbling noises.

She allowed him to slip the stunner from her fingers into his.

"Don't you dare miss," she warned him, as he exited the observation room.

He gave her one more smile, then closed the door after himself.

.

Stunner ready in his hand, Rhys slid open the lock to the door to where the creature was. Heart pounding, he took hold of the knob and took a deep breath, preparing to open the door and fire in one quick fluid motion.

He yanked open the door and aimed at the _kazipoto._

Which was sitting on its hind quarters in the corner of the room, facing him, with all of its upper body appendages up in the air, as if in surrender.

"Please not shoot," it said, in a rather cartoon-character sounding voice. "I stop now."

Against all logic, Rhys hesitated. At the split second when he should have pulled the trigger, his brain told him not to do that, and that the explanation for that would have to wait. But he kept his aim on the creature.

"You speak English?" asked Rhys.

"I speak small English. Not I normal speak."

"Well, small English is more than I know about what you normally speak, mate, " Rhys said. "If we can talk, then there's no reason for either of us to hurt each other, right?"

"Not need for hurt," agreed the _kazipoto_.

"Good. I'm just going to close this door behind me, and it'll be just you and me having a nice little chat."

Without taking his eyes off the target, Rhys slowly reclosed the door, then slowly squatted down to the floor to be eye level with the creature. He remembered hearing or reading somewhere that children and animals appreciated this gesture as a sign of no-threat. He hoped that it was taken the same way on the world that the _kazipoto _came from.

"Need find friend," it said, pointing to the container that still hung from its neck. "Friend from here."

"Your friend is a dangerous man," said Rhys. "We already have people looking for him."

"You not understand. Master now Doctor. Doctor now Master. _Doctor_ now dangerous man."

.

The Doctor grinned a wolfish grin as he tossed the tracking device to the ground.

"I know you can hear me!" he called out loudly. "I suggest you show yourself. If you do, I'll offer you single combat! You can't ask for a more fair deal than that! If you refuse..."

In a flash, he had moved behind Sarah Jane, taking her head into a deadly looking hold. She gasped and struggled, but soon she saw that her struggles were to no avail.

"As you can see, I've brought a familiar face with me, Doctor!" he continued. "Unless you want to be responsible for her neck being snapped, come out from wherever you are hiding!"

"Very well," came the Master's voice from behind a nearby tree.

The Master stepped out into plain view. "Here I am. Now let her go."

The Doctor's smile was very insincere. "How predictable. Despite how well you know me, you still persist in believing that there is a shred of decency within me! As soon as I dispose of Miss Smith, here, I will do likewise with you. Then I intend to return to our own world and proclaim to everyone that the Master preferred to die rather than be taken alive. Then I'll be off...inside your TARDIS!"

The Doctor laughed a very uncharacteristic belly laugh.

TO BE CONTINUED


	4. Chapter 4

The Sarah Jane Adventures: 

"Port in A Storm" pt. 4

by Vladimir Klaud

Sarah Jane was able to quietly slip one of her hands into one of her pockets and wrap fingers around her sonic lipstick. Doing her best to adjust it blindly and with only one hand, she brought it out and jammed it into where she hoped the Doctor's ear would be, simultaneously activating it.

It was close enough.

The Doctor screamed along with the device's high-pitched whine, then he dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"Careful!" admonished the Master, running over to them. "I still have plans to move back into that body, you know! I hope you haven't just destroyed my eardrum."

"Desperate times," explained Sarah Jane. "So am I to believe that you and he have somehow swapped bodies?"

"Well, I didn't agree to it," said the Master. "But since when has a little thing, like not asking permission first, ever stopped the Master from doing as he pleases?"

"You _are_ the real Doctor, then?"

"Not the one you know, I'm afraid, but yes. The Master and I are from a parallel world."

"That much he admitted already," said Sarah Jane, as the Master proceeded to examine the unconscious Doctor.

"He's still alive. Ear's not bleeding, that's a good sign. What _are_ you doing with a sonic screwdriver, in the first place?"

"Sonic lipstick. My Doctor provided it to me, before he moved on."

"Brilliant lad. But then again, he _is_ me. Well, _your_ world's version of me, anyway. I only wish I had thought of that. My world's version of you might..."

The Master paused, realizing he was on the verge of saying too much.

"...Still be alive?" offered Sarah Jane. "Already know about that too, I'm afraid."

"I see. Suppose we find something we can use to tie him up while he's still in a co-operative state for that, eh?"

.

Evening had begun to fall. But Gwen, Rhys, and the _kazipoto_were back in the car, which was back on the road headed for the warehouse where Sarah Jane and the Doctor were last spotted. They brought small but powerful torches with them. Even so, they were aware that on that alone, it would still have been a miracle if they managed to stumble across the right direction to follow.

Fortunately, the _kazipoto_ assured them that its sense of smell was acute, so there was a good chance it could lead them, bloodhound-style, directly to wherever Sarah Jane was to be found.

"Hang on, Sarah Jane," muttered Gwen. "We'll be there soon."

.

When the Doctor regained consciousness, he found his hands bound behind his back, and his ankles also strapped together. It was dark by then, and the only source of light was a nearby campfire. The Master and Sarah Jane were seated near it, quietly discussing something.

"Awake now, are you?" said the Master. "Why not inchworm a little closer to the fire? It is much more pleasant here."

The Doctor grinned a _why__not?_sort of grin, and did just that. The Master and Sarah Jane made no move to help him as he struggled over to them, then managed to sit himself up by the fire.

Making himself as comfortable as he could under the circumstances, he spoke.

"I should have remembered how resourceful Miss Smith can be, especially given that fact that this one has survived much longer than the one we both knew, eh, Doctor?"

"Well, if you're asking my opinion," said the Master, "I'd say it was your inability to keep from gloating which gave her the time she needed to bring you down. Wouldn't you agree, Sarah?"

Sarah Jane nodded. "Oh, indeed. In any universe, it seems the Master can't resist a bit of mustache twirling."

"Yes," said the Doctor. "Admittedly, I do have a fondness for relishing my moments of victory a little too much and a little too soon. I really must learn to contain myself until your defeat is a solid fact. _Then_ I will have all the time in the world to celebrate."

"All academic now, I suppose," said the Master. "After we've each taken turns at sleeping and watching you, the plan is to get both of us back to our own world, swap us back into our correct bodies, and then put you in your receptacle as you were sentenced to be."

"Doctor!" spoke up Sarah Jane, suddenly on the alert. "Do you hear that? I think someone's coming."

"I believe you're right," noted the Master, at the sight of two strangers and an animal approaching the fire.

"We thought you might need help," said Gwen, surveying the trio seated around the fire and concluding that since the Doctor was tied up, Sarah Jane must have had the situation well in hand.

Rhys indicated the _kazipoto_. "Our friend, here, explained the whole thing. If you're done camping out, we can give you a ride back to the Rift."

.

The fire was quickly put out, and once everyone was back out of the woods, they piled into the car. The drive to the Rift was silent; no one felt much like speaking, nor much like listening to any opposing points of view, either.

Rhys parked the car as close as he could to the part where Gwen first spotted the Doctor, but the rest of the journey to that exact place had to be made on foot.

At last, the group stood before the area in question. But no one made a move toward it.

"I understand that it's a shot in the dark, and you might not end up back in your home universe," said Rhys. "But it still is your best shot. If the decision was mine, I'd take it. If it's not home, you could always come back, right?"

"Unless the world on the other side is a lake of molten lava," asked Gwen.

"That is an unpleasant possibility," said the Master. "And, unfortunately, one of an infinite amount of unpleasant possibilities."

"If my vote counts," said the Doctor, "I find this world quite pleasant enough for me. Especially considering what awaits me should our own world actually still be there behind this rift."

Sarah Jane faced the Master. "Doctor, if you did have a little more time, is there any way that you could reduce the uncertainty?"

"With a _little_ more time?" said the Master. "Not likely. The amount of time necessary would be more than two universes can spare at this moment. For a number of reasons I don't care to go into just now. I'm afraid the Master and I, as well as my Ermadoleean friend, must simply stiffen our upper lips and head through. Come what may."

.

That's when the first completely unpredictable event took place. Something new chose that instant to emerge from the Rift. Something small and mechanical-looking slowly moved out amid a blaze of light.

"Master," it acknowledged, upon slowing to a stop before the group.

"K-9!" exclaimed the Master. "Good dog! But why are you here?"

"Dispatched to lend assistance."

"And not a moment too soon. But I am at a loss to understand..."

"Doctor," interrupted Sarah Jane, "Time, remember? You can look a gift robot dog in the mouth once you're safely back where you belong. Right now, I think we should say our goodbyes."

The Master nodded and smiled. "I've missed not having a Sarah Jane Smith around, you know."

"It's been a blast to see your old face, again, as well," said Sarah Jane, shooting a look at the Doctor. "Even if it was being worn by someone else. I'm just sorry that I may never know whether or not you've managed to remedy that problem."

.

That's when the second completely unpredictable event took place.

"Detecting massive energy surge inside interdimensional rift..." said K-9, rather urgently.

Then, like a wave crashing against a shore, the rift suddenly visibly lurched forward, engulfing the entire group before anyone could react - then it pulled them all into itself before retreating to its normal position, leaving the area dark, silent, and lifeless.

TO BE CONTINUED


End file.
